President Donald Trump has criticized four Republican lawmakers. These four men broke ranks to back a House measure seeking to curb his authority over the Iran war. The symbolic resolution passed exposed rare divisions within the president’s own party over the ongoing Middle East conflict.
Donald Trump lashes out at 4 Republicans over Iran war
Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Thursday to denounce the vote, calling it a “meaningless” stunt timed to undermine delicate peace negotiations. “Yesterday, in a meaningless vote, the House voted, 4 bad Republicans and all of the Dumocrats, to limit my War Powers, right in the middle of my final negotiations to end the War with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he wrote. “Who would do such an unpatriotic thing. They know where the negotiations stand.”
The four Republicans who sided with Democrats were Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Tom Barrett of Michigan, Warren Davidson of Ohio, and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania. Though they hail from different corners of the party, they united behind a single proposition that the United States should not remain engaged in hostilities with Iran without explicit congressional approval.
Donald Trump also looped in Democrats in the bashing, whom he accused of being “fueled by Trump Derangement Syndrome.” Before further singling out the Republican defectors for particular scorn. “The four Republicans, that’s a whole other story – They’re GRANDSTANDERS!” he wrote. “They should be ashamed of themselves.”
The resolution they supported directs Trump to withdraw American forces from attacking Iran unless Congress declares war or passes specific authorization for military action. It does not carry the force of law, but stands as the chamber’s formal reproach of the administration’s war policy. It passed by a slender 215-208 margin.
Representative Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced the measure. For Democrats, the vote represents a long-sought assertion of legislative authority over war powers they argue have been ceded to the White House. The breakthrough on Wednesday suggests shifting sentiment on Capitol Hill.
Originally reported by Devanshi Basu on Mandatory.
